A plan for engaging the materials and methods of #ootle17?

Since I started the course of #ootle17, the Introduction to the Old Testament class online, I have been working on blogging, twittering, and some google doc activities regarding the topics of the week. This new experience of learning and sharing the biblical knowledge through my Personal Learning Network, such as blog, twitter, and google doc activities would be very helpful for me to continue studying and sharing what I read and have questions in the Old Testament regarding both my academic interest in the biblical knowledge and my faith in God for the ministry that I will do in the future after the seminary. Thus, I would like to continue being involved with the potential participants of my Personal Learning Network by engaging the materials and methods of this course.

The plan that motivates me to engage what I have learned through materials and methods of this course for a future ministry of mine would be very tentative or provisional, but I am sure that it would be a great plan for the people who will be participating in it.

The project that I like to engage the materials and methods of this course is an online bible study of the Old Testament for the college students of my church that I will be able to lead during the semester or a summer vacation. It is not easy, in general, to make a good schedule for a bible study which is convenient for all the participating students; during the semester, students have different class schedules, and during the summer vacation, students have flexible schedules for their working or traveling. In addition, we should find a cozy place for the bible study, which is also not easy to find during the semester when the rooms of a church building are packed with the schedules for various kinds of church meetings and plans. Thus, an online bible study using the Personal Learning Network that I have learned how to use in the course of #ootle17 will provide a chance to join a bible study for the students who want to join one, but hesitate because of the limitedness of their availability of time and space like some seminary students involved in this course of #ootle17. With an online bible study that I plan engaging the materials and method of #ootle17 including the online reading materials, podcasts and video links, blogs, twitter, and google doc, the participants will have better access to the bible study with less limitedness of time and space using a method which may be technologically familiar and easy to them.

Here is an example of a tentative plan for a bible study that I can do with the college students of my church in the future, which will be scheduled for ten weeks at a time.

First, I will open a webpage for the bible study, like the home page of #ootle17, where all the participants will be able to access the materials and method for the bible study including the syllabus of the study and the instruction of how to make and use the Personal Learning Network for the study. I guess the participants already will know better than me about how to make and use it considering the college students’ catching up with the advanced knowledge of using technology and online social network.

I will also provide a chance to meet all the participants face to face through the google hangout at the time when most of the participants are available and at least two times of real meeting with the participants during the whole session of the bible study, one for the beginning and the other for the ending of the study.

For the materials as the resource for the bible study, I could use some relevant course materials regarding the topic that I choose among the ones that I have worked in #ootle 17 all through the weeks of this semester. But, based on what I have learned about how to access the resource for a topic of the week, I will look for more additional supplementary reading or watching materials and links as the resources that are more appropriate for college students to access easily and that will be better understood by them.

For the work of the first week of the bible Study, I will ask the students to upload a short introduction about themselves and a motivation of joining the bible study in their personal blog and to twitter what they look forward to learning in the bible study, as we did in the course, which will provide them to get a chance to know each other and feel free to be involved in the group activities though the network.

Second, for the topic of the bible study, I will choose a topic for the bible study among the topics that I have been working on for my blog. However, this bible study is not for seminarians but for college students who do not have much experience of reading and studying the books of the Old Testament and connecting it to their Christian life. Thus, I will start with one topic that I was working on for the make of a week as the topic of the whole session of the bible study and continue to proceed to another related topic based on my observation of the progress of the students’ learning through their working at their Personal Learning Network. This will require an additional work for me to figure out what are intriguing and meaningful questions for college students in the biblical text chosen for the bible study regarding the topic that I choose for the study.

For example, I will choose the topic of the creation stories of Genesis 1-11 for the first session of the bible study titled “Genesis I” with the reading materials and make option 1 of the week that I revise for the college students to work on for the bible study as follows.

In the bible study of “Genesis I”, we will read Genesis 1-11 with a focus on the creation stories regarding how the creation stories are narrated in Genesis and in other books of the Old Testament, what makes the creation stories in Genesis and in other books of the Old Testament different, and how they are meaningful for us in our faith in God. The participants will work on the following online activities of blogging and twittering about what we are reading and questioning in the biblical text of the study for ten weeks

I. What we are doing for the blog is

Read the first two creation stories and think about why two different stories are given at the beginning of Genesis as the first book of the Old Testament.

Write your opinion about the question of 1 based on what you read and watch in the resource provided for the question.

Read the following passages and compare a creation story you find in each passage with what you read in Genesis 1-2.

Write about the difference you discover between the creation stories from Genesis 1, 2 and other creation stories in each of the following passages based on the given resource.

Isa 51:9

Job 9:4-14

Job 26:7-14

Job 38:1-11

Psalms 8:1-9

Psalms 74:12-17

Psalms 89:8-10

Psalms 104:1-9

Psalms 136:1-9

Proverbs 8:22-31

5. Think about what makes the creation stories meaningful in each of the biblical text of the Old Testament they are narrated and in your Christian life.

6. Write what you think about the question of 5 based on the resource given for the question.

II. Working on the Twitter every week with what comes up to your mind about the questions we are working on in this bible study .

This example of a tentative plan for a bible study that I would like to engage the materials and methods that I have used and learned through the work of #ootle17 will be a starting point for me to retain involvement with those participants who might make up part of my Personal Learning Network and a good motivation for me to engage again the materials and methods of this course for the plan.

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5 thoughts on “A plan for engaging the materials and methods of #ootle17?”

Great plan for using the course materials and the knowledge you have gained! Keep in mind your learning is not complete yet, the greatest way to become familiar with a topic, is to suddenly have to teach it! Keep in mind that these are college students, your expectations for the course may need to be adjusted to meet the needs and knowledge. If this idea turns out to be a success, consider using the same model in the teaching of the New Testament. Best of luck on this new adventure!

I love the idea of an online Bible study for college students. You are correct when you speak of the difficulties of finding the time and space that works well for everyone to meet. I also agree that these students are much more comfortable in the online setting, so I believe you are really on to something there. I would be curious to know what you find when looking for those topics that are intriguing and engaging to that age group. I have worked with children, youth, adults and the elderly, but never college-age. That would be fascinating. I wish you well with your future ministry!

I absolutely love this idea! What an incredible way to utilize the model to reach people who are in the habit of taking courses in a similar way so they can engage the materials further. I hope you will incorporate some of the Twitter activities we got to participate in as I think these are a fun way to engage and interact!! Excited to see this in motion!

Wow you have been so inspired that you are thinking/planning an online Bible study already for students?!?! I love the ambition. I believe this is a great plan you have here, you have it already lined up- it’s just a matter of launching it is what it seems like! I would incorporate education with processing this knowledge. As a college student their world is likely already shaken so much, I would offer up group time/reflection time where they can digest what they are learning. College students are hungry for knowledge but also looking for a place to be heard a lot of times… I mean I guess we all are but especially emerging into adulthood!!! Good luck.

You have put much thought into your Bible study plan and I am excited with you that you will be able to share what you have learned with interested young adults. And not only have you decided to try this, but you have created an action plan to implement it! My hope is that you have fun while learning along with your group it amazes me how there is so much to learn and how each new reading gains new insight. (Actually, there were several times I was frustrated about things we were exposed to since this is not recent “new” knowledge from an academic standpoint and the pastors I’ve listened to have not shared much of what we learned with me or the congregations I’ve attended and participated in.)

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